Biga vs Poolish in Ciabatta
Greetings,
I have been doing a sourdough ciabatta for awhile now, and liking it very much - but I have begun to think about the process, and wondering why it needed a firm biga - it calls for a 50% hydration biga, and I don't like using my stand mixer for something that firm - so I've been doing it by hand, which isn't a breeze! Then, the next day, you have to slowly incorporate pieces of the biga into your final dough - not difficult, but more time consuming than if you had just used a 100% poolish instead. What is the benefit of using a firm biga in ciabatta? Why not just make it easier and use the 100% poolish?
I raise this question so I might better understand the process of breadmaking - and I suspect that there are bakers hereabouts who have this knowledge.
TIA for your response.
john
Biga is a traditional Italian preferment. Its low hydration helps develop acidity, which helps when you're deling with weak local flours. Since most of our ciabattas here are made with much stronger flours insisting on using biga becomes a tad pointless unless one can detect a taste difference and prefers a particular version. In addition you may have noticed that not only mixing biga takes more effort, incorporating it into a wet dough takes more time. So, if you find easier - use poolish, Hamelman, for example, gives both versions, but suggests increasing amount of flour in preferment by 50% when using pooilsh.
why, "Its low hydration helps develop acidity, which helps when you're deling with weak local flours. "
My question is that acidity makes a dough weaker not stronger, by encouraging proteases. So why is it written so often acidity strengthens weak flours?
Meryl
Proteases don't really just float around in the dough, they are a function of (lacto)bacteria. In sourdough fermentation proteolysis while beneficial is something that needs to be monitored. Proteolytic ability of yeast on the other hand is negligible, so in preferments like biga it is of little concern.
John: "I don't like using my stand mixer for something that firm - so I've been doing it by hand, which isn't a breeze!"
Please check the illustration in The Artisan site:
Fundamental to the formation of a biga is a flour that has stability and is not too active during the fermentation. Lacking these values, a rapid decomposition can occur.
In addition to the choice of flour and the proper implementation of the procedure, the following conditions optimize a biga:
a.) The biga should not be mixed intensely for a long time. Over-mixing the dough weakens the gluten, and causes retention of excessive gas, which causes the dough to swell quickly, and also causes a rapid relapse.
...
When making 50% hydration biga, I just use my hands to mix the flour & water together with a littlt kneading only. Pretty easy (and handy).
Also, the biga can be prepared in different hydration. It's just that the higher hydration, the less time for the fermentation. Depending on when you want to work on bread making, you choose the proper hydration for the biga.
All wonderful info! I thank you all for contributing, and for trying to do so in layman's terms.
Of course, I had already used a poolish of 100% hydration in my last ciabatta, along with the same long bulk fermentation period (8-10 hours) and when I then put the final dough together, as Dan suggests, I found it to be incredibly sticky, and had no glutin development apparent (it was instead pasty). I knew then that I had to get a better understanding of why this was happening with the poolish, but not with the biga.
Thanks again for taking the time to share this info.
john